Producer Sandeep Singh has sent a defamation notice, claiming Rs 200 crore in damages from Republic TV and its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami for airing false and defamatory content against him during their coverage of the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. The channel has been asked to remove such footage and articles in 15 days and release an unconditional apology in written or video form, failing which Singh has warned he will take legal recourse.
The notice, sent through his advocate, said the sole motive for airing the malicious content was to extort money and grab television rating points (TRPs). Further, the notice said, Singh was informed by one of the channel’s correspondents that unless he considered financially benefiting Republic TV, Arnab would keep airing such news.
In the notice Singh posted on his social media account, his advocate says Singh was a reputed producer and filmmaker in Bollywood and the channel ran defamatory news to extort money from him, despite knowing that he and Rajput knew each other from their days of struggle.
Singh received many messages from Republic’s correspondents with the intent to extort, it stated. The channel, through its shows, publicly demanded his arrest and he was termed a ‘key conspirator’ and ‘murderer’ in Rajput's 'murder' case, it added.
Mentioning dates, the notice said the channel had aired interviews with certain people who had linked him with celebrity manager Disha Salian's suicide and made various false claims - of him directing the ambulance after Rajput's death and taking charge of the funeral, among others.
The channel and Goswami termed him a 'crucial link' in the late actor’s 'murder' case and that he was using Rajput’s death for "political gain", it said.
From August 22 to August 24, Republic TV correspondents tried to enter Singh’s residence and harassed everyone in his building, from security guards to domestic help, the notice added.
On September 6, Republic TV had shown someone coming out of the CBI office, hiding his face, and said it was Singh, the notice further said.
The notice asked the channel and Goswami to remove such footage and articles and release an unconditional apology in written or video form and claimed Rs 200 crore in damages for maligning Singh’s image in public.
